diff --git a/Doc/reference/simple_stmts.rst b/Doc/reference/simple_stmts.rst
index d403c4d546edc1..35c823992aaa6a 100644
--- a/Doc/reference/simple_stmts.rst
+++ b/Doc/reference/simple_stmts.rst
@@ -872,7 +872,7 @@ definition, function definition, or :keyword:`import` statement.
    builtin: eval
    builtin: compile
 
-**Programmer's note:** the :keyword:`global` is a directive to the parser.  It
+**Programmer's note:** :keyword:`global` is a directive to the parser.  It
 applies only to code parsed at the same time as the :keyword:`global` statement.
 In particular, a :keyword:`global` statement contained in a string or code
 object supplied to the built-in :func:`exec` function does not affect the code